Arsenal had the better of the opening 15 minutes, but it quickly became apparent they were lacking a clinical edge.

Ramsey tried to carve open the home defence with a series of cutting passes, and there were plenty of fancy touches from Sanchez, who threatened with his pace.

But Howard remained untested in the Everton goal.

The only chance Arsenal mustered in the first half came when Coleman cleared straight to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Luckily for the hosts, the England winger side-footed wide.

It took just a couple of minutes for Coleman to get back into Martinez's good books.

The Republic of Ireland full-back climbed high at the back post to nod Gareth Barry's delicate chip past Wojciech Szczesny and give Everton the lead.

Romelu Lukaku played a part in the goal, selflessly ducking to give Coleman a clear header, and Mesut Ozil gave Everton a helping hand with some sloppy marking.

Arsenal were rattled, and they almost went 2-0 down moments later.

Naismith looped a header over Calum Chambers and straight into the path of Kevin Mirallas, but his shot trickled inches wide.

Chambers then carelessly clattered into Mirallas, giving Everton a free-kick on the edge of the box.

Mirallas bent the resulting free-kick up and over the wall, and the Everton fans rose to their feet thinking the Belgian had scored, but the ball had instead rippled the side-netting.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger vented his anger at referee Kevin Friend for booking Per Mertesacker after a foul on Naismith.

The Frenchman's mood darkened just before the break when Everton doubled their lead.

Lukaku shrugged off Mertesacker inside the Everton half and hurdled the sliding challenge of Chambers before sprinting at the Arsenal defence on the break. The Belgian cleverly cut inside from the right flank and flicked the ball through to Naismith, who beat Szczesny from close range.

It was a beautiful goal, but one that should have been ruled out for offside, replays showed.